Sailors man the rails of the USS Peleliu as it sails from San Diego for Pacific Partnership, a humanitarian mission that includes specialized medical care and various construction and engineering projects. Navy Photo by MCS 2nd Class J. Hudson.

U.S. Navy hosts Kiwi medics for Pacific Partnership

U.S. Ambassador Bill McCormick has warmly welcomed the participation of six New Zealand medical personnel in a U.S. led humanitarian mission to the Pacific.

“During Pacific Partnership 2007, the Royal New Zealand Navy, the U.S. Navy and our partners will work together to build hospitals and schools, teach preventive medicine, and provide medical and dental assistance in support of participating Pacific nations,” said the Ambassador.

Throughout the four month long Pacific Partnership mission, the U.S.S. Peleliu will serve as an enabling platform through which military and NGOs can coordinate and carry out humanitarian efforts. The six New Zealand personnel will be hosted aboard the amphibious ship.

“The United States is a Pacific nation, and as such, we share many interests, values and beliefs with our Pacific neighbors. The U.S. Navy plans to carry the ‘aloha’ spirit of caring, commitment and compassion with them on this deployment to assist our Pacific neighbors,” the Ambassador added. “Kiwis are renowned for their innovation and their number-eight-fencing-wire attitude. In every sense, we are delighted to have the New Zealand Navy aboard!”

Pacific Partnership is being supported by regional governments and NGOs. Participants include: Australia, Canada, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, the Aloha Medical Mission, Project Hope, The University of California San Diego Pre-Dental Society, and other NGOs present in the locations to be visited.

The Ambassador noted that the U.S. Navy’s relationships with many of the participating NGOs were strengthened in recent years during tsunami, mudslide and earthquake relief missions and during the USNS Mercy deployment in 2006.

“Last summer’s USNS Mercy deployment demonstrated the profound effect the mission had on the region and previewing what the men and women of the Pacific Partnership will experience. Mara Haun, a 60-year-old Muslim mother of three in the Philippines, had been blinded by cataracts until her eyesight was returned by an American surgical team and local medical personnel on board Mercy,” said the Ambassador.

Related Links:
• U.S. Navy hosts Kiwi medics
  (Release from U.S. Ambassador William P. McCormick; pdf document; 54kb)
• NZ sailors to join US-led humanitarian mission in Pacific
  (Release from NZ Foreign Minister Phil Goff)
• Royal New Zealand Navy Joins Pacific Partnership Team
  (News from the USS Peleliu)
• Pacific Partnership 2007
• USS Peleliu